


my golden hour

by orphan_account



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Fluff, Letters, M/M, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:01:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22438384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Aina told me to try this letter thing to get pre-wedding jitters out. Not that I’m nervous about getting married, I’ve just— never thought I’d actually do it, as I’m sure you, Past Self, know.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 12
Kudos: 110





	my golden hour

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by one of my absolute favorite ameripan fics (Just As You Are), tho it is from an orphaned account 
> 
> title is from “golden hour” by kacey musgraves aka more inspiration for this fic

Dear Past Self,

This was  _ not _ my idea, but my nerves have never been this bad before and at this point I’m too far concerned with a million other things to care about whether or not this stupid letter will even reach you. With the insane technology of this century, like fire fighting suits and ice-shooting guns and goddamn  _ roombas _ , you’d think they would have gotten around to making a time machine. 

Aina told me to try this to get pre-wedding jitters out. Not that I’m nervous about getting married, I’ve just— never thought I’d actually  _ do  _ it, as I’m sure you, Past Self, know. Our first priority has always been the Burnish and their safety, not whether or not eggshell goes with your eyes or which flowers go well with the venue. 

Though that’s neither here nor there. I should probably just get into it. 

You, fearless and righteous leader of the Mad Burnish, will, eventually, lose your fire. It will hurt, and it will sting, and you will cry for hours one evening after realizing you couldn’t heat up a cup of hot cocoa with a flick of your wrist. Of course, you won’t be crying over the cocoa so much as you’ll be crying over the fact that you lost your spark. The thing that makes you special. The one comfort you have against the icy chill of the world, the only thing keeping you  _ sane _ —

But. What you get in exchange for the loss of your fire is something much more important. Possibly the most important thing in your entire life (and I know, that’s really hard to imagine, but stay with me for a moment).

You, Past Lio Fotia, will meet the most idiotic, stupid, reckless, irritating man in the world. He will make you want to tear your hair out. He will make you want to scream at the top of your lungs— and you will, multiple times until your throat is sore and voice nearly gone. This absolute dumbass of a man will cause you so much trouble that, at first, you’d rather kill him and be done with it. 

But this man— this  _ dope _ , this goof, this ball of sunny smiles and a handful of brain cells— you will love him so much you will not know what to do with yourself. 

The day you meet will be rocky. You have been planning the breakout of the trapped Burnish for months, carefully planned down to the tiniest detail with Meis and Gueria by your side. You know the risk of getting arrested, and of course, it scares you, but not as much as leaving those innocent people to rot at the hands of the Foresight Foundation. Meis and Gueria are there every step of the way, fearless and cocky as ever, and you’re grateful for it. The attack goes as planned, and Burning Rescue crashes your party nearly as soon as it starts.

That’s when you meet Galo Thymos. 

Looking back on it, you will come on a little too strong. He takes on Meis and Gueria and captures them rather easily, so you’re upset. But you’ll make a whole show of making your bike, do a few doughnuts, do this finger thing that comes off as plain  _ erotic _ now that I look back on it—

Anyways. You fight, you lose, all according to plan. 

Galo’s eyes are blue. That’s the first thing you’ll notice when he corners you, wrists and ankles trapped with ice. They’re so fucking blue. But he’s so fucking stupid. Much too loud. Arrogance practically drips off of him as he declares his name and demands for yours as if he hadn’t ever head of the leader of the Mad Burnish. 

He’s an infuriating person, but you know you have to go through with the arrest. The prison breakout will go smoothly, your flames more than enough to take on the guards and whole ass truck they somehow shoved into the building. 

You meet Galo again when he finds you and the rescued Burnish, lurking in the cave you had scouted out days before.  _ How irritating _ , you will think as you fasten rope around his wrists.  _ How goddamn irritating and wow he could really crush me with these arms if he really wanted to wait why did I just think that. _

He’s stupid, but you had already figured it out by that point. Still, something in the way he apologizes for his ignorance, the blind way he believes in Foresight makes you hesitate. No one could really be that clueless— right?

The next few things that happen are still a blur, Past Self, so you’re going to have to be patient with me while I work them out. Galo can (and has, many times) told me what I did and what he did and what  _ we  _ did but I was honestly too angry to really remember it. 

Foresight finds the temporary settlement that you, Meis and Gueria had built, and that goes as well as you can imagine. I would tell you to watch out for the old man, but if I did, Galo wouldn’t have, essentially, come to your rescue later on, which is pretty pivotal to your relationship. 

Ice, as I’m sure you know, hurts. A  _ lot.  _ If you think ordinary ice holds you back now, you’ll be glad to know that Foresight somehow managed to create some type of heat seeking ice bullets that grow the more fire you try to use. It sounds terrifying, and it was—  _ will  _ be. I don’t think I’ve ever been that scared before in my entire life, not knowing whether or not Meis or Gueria made it out, whether or not those innocent people survived, just—  _ not knowing. _ Fucking hell, my hands start shaking just thinking about it.

Getting launched into that volcano will be your saving grace, since you will be surrounded by heat, but it also helps that you will be absolutely fucking  _ pissed.  _ You’re usually always pissed off, but just wait. You’re also the type of person who can’t help but cry when you get really,  _ really  _ mad, and it shows when you take to the city with a dragon made of fire. It’s always embarrassed you, but don’t be this time— Galo wouldn’t have gone after you so quickly, otherwise. 

Past Self, I know you because I  _ am  _ you, I guess, so I know how much you want to kill Kray Foresight. And in that moment, full of rage and despair, you will come so terribly  _ close _ to actually killing him. He doesn’t even try to run away from you. 

Galo will stop you from making one of the biggest mistakes of your life with a headbutt. Stupid, but effective. It’s just what you need to knock you out of your blind rage. 

(Which, by the way, you really need to grow out of. Those temper tantrums get old really quick, and they never get you want you want, anyways. Galo’s a big help in getting you to actually communicate your feelings rather than just go apeshit.)

It’s together that you find out just who Kray Foresight is and what he’s done. It’s together that you find out what your flames really are, and it’s together that you take off to be done with the Foresight Foundation once and for all. I’ll leave you to find out what the Burnish flames are, because I didn’t quite understand it the first time round, if I’m honest. The fact that you’re suddenly off to do all of this together when you don’t even know the guy all that well is a bit irritating, but bear with it for a minute. It’s entirely worth it. So worth it, in fact, that you sacrifice some of your fire to save him. It comes instinctively to you, because all you could realize was  _ Galo in danger  _ and  _ Kray trying to kill him _ before coating him in heat. 

Galo Thymos kisses you and it’s unlike any fire you’ve ever felt before. It’s not quite like the Burnish flames, but it isn’t like normal fire, either. It’s just— warm. Comforting. Familiar. Like you should have kissed him before. Like you were coming home.

The feeling of his lips on yours— even if it was him simply trying to  _ save _ you, breathing Burnish fire back into you— never leaves your mind. Even now, as I write this hours before I’m supposed to be walking down the aisle, I can’t stop thinking about it. Things like that don’t just  _ leave  _ you. He could have left you there, one less reckless Burnish to worry about. But he doesn’t. He leans right down and kisses you, square on the lips, almost desperate. I guess he  _ was  _ a bit desperate, because he will tell you much later on that he was so, so terrified of losing you when he had just gotten to know you. 

He kisses you and you save the world, basically. It sounds like something out of a movie, but it  _ happens  _ and before you know it, the warmth in your hands isn’t coming from your flames but from his hand in yours. The sun feels good on your face when it rises over the wrecked city behind you, standing next to Galo Thymos, of all people. 

So. Now that you’ve had your meet-cute, it doesn’t take very long to actually admit you have feelings for the dope. 

You realize it first, but decide to wait for Galo to come around and ask you out— here’s some advice: don’t. He’s oblivious. So goddamn clueless that you end up yanking him down by the collar of his shirt to kiss him, bumping into his nose a little too hard. 

Mmfh, he’ll say, like he’s actually surprised you would ever kiss him. When you pull away, he looks  _ petrified,  _ asking what-what-what was that for?

Past Self, here’s some more advice: be as straightforward as possible with Galo. He doesn’t like to assume because if you assume you make an ass of yourself, or something like that, so just. Be as clear as day with him. 

So, when he asks you what that kiss was for, tell him. Then kiss him again. 

And again.

And again.

And again.

You two fall into a rhythm pretty easily and fairly quickly. You were spending all of your spare time together, already, so dating comes easy to both of you. No one else in Burning Rescue will be surprised, either, but Meis and Gueria… they won’t be entirely convinced for a while. 

(Just give them time, and make it a point to be as affectionate as  _ possible  _ when you’re around Galo and those two. Use the sappiest pet names you could think of— Galo’s favorite happens to be “sweetheart”, so abuse that— and be quick to defend him and his stupidity. Sure, he can be dumb, but he’s  _ your  _ dumbass, and no one can call him dumb but you.)

Galo likes to do things that don’t involve sleeping until five in the afternoon, which is different for you, but you will get used to it. He likes to go rollerskating, ice skating, going to the movies, going out to eat, going to the pet store just to  _ look  _ and he definitely didn’t want a dog or a cat, dude, he’s just looking and petting and holding a certain orange tabby cat for a little  _ too  _ long. He’s cute, you will start to realize. He’s  _ really  _ cute. Even the little things he does— the scrunch in his nose when he eats something too sour, how he reaches for you in his sleep when you leave the bed, when he tells you to shut yo cute ass up! before kissing you— it’s all so endearing. 

Which, Past Self, I don’t know if you realize this, is very,  _ very  _ unlike you. 

I know this sounds overwhelming, but hear me out. I didn’t just write this to freak you out. I also have advice:

  1. Since you’ve been on the run for so long, you’re a little behind on memes. Galo and Lucia will have your back in this department, and soon your entire camera roll on your phone will be full of photos of Galo and the green M&M who looks like Dr. Phil.
  2. Meis and Gueria won’t like Galo at first, but don’t be upset (can you really blame them when he _was_ one of Foresight’s followers?). Invite them for lunches and dinners often, and hold Galo’s hand in front of them. They know you don’t like public displays of affection.
  3. Past Self, I’ve already said it before, but get your anger under control. You two won’t fight often, thank God, but when you do, it isn’t pretty. Mostly because of you. You’ll think your better than him and that’s typically the root of your fights, but he’s quick to remind you otherwise. You’re equal, and after a while, you prefer being equal. Don’t you get tired of having to be so perfect all the time?
  4. His friends are different from Meis and Gueria, but they’re not at all unfriendly. If anything, they think you’re pretty badass. After all, you _were_ the leader of Mad Burnish. Don’t shut yourself out, make an effort to get to know them. You will, surprisingly, have a lot in common with them.
  5. By the way, Galo really brings out the extrovert in you. Embrace it. 
  6. Galo loves to wake up early. Ridiculously early. You’ll hate it, but when he walks into your shared bedroom with a plate of bacon and hot coffee, you’ll forget that it’s still dark outside. 
  7. He doesn’t remember his parents very well, which is not the case for you, but listen to him when he _does_ remember bits and pieces of his childhood before the orphanage. Watch the way his eyes light up when he talks about Saturday morning cartoons and sugary cereal for breakfast. It’s quite literally one of the most wonderful things to watch in the world (and for fuck’s sake, get a hold of yourself when he mentions your hypothetical children. I know you’ve never thought about having an actual family with anyone before, and suddenly it sounds so perfect if it was with Galo, but that isn’t any reason to start _crying.)_
  8. He’s a good cook, and you’ll come to realize that after he comments on your weight— for the record, asking damn, where are you going with all _that?_ isn’t the best way of saying you have a fatter ass, but I digress. 
  9. The proposal… fucking hell, the _proposal._ I won’t spoil it, but just— just keep it together. He knows you so well, it’s almost too much for you to bear. 



It’s been at least two hours since I’ve sat down and began writing this letter, and I kind of don’t want to stop. Damn Aina for actually making me talk about my feelings, but damn  _ Galo  _ for making me feel these things. 

I locked myself in my room, but that doesn’t necessarily stop anyone from trying to talk to me— which multiple people have, including Aina and Meis, asking if I was okay or if I wanted to call the whole thing off, to which I only replied through one-worded letters slipped under the door. I’m not even nervous anymore. I just want to get this over with.

Okay, I lied. Galo comes by, asking to open the door, even though he knows it’s supposedly bad luck to see the bride— groom? who cares— before the wedding. He has his hand clamped over his eyes tight, requesting you do the same (which you do, because being around him for so long has made you just as much of a dumbass as he is), and feels for your other hand before asking if you’re okay. You’ll nod, before realizing he can’t see, then say yeah I’m okay, why wouldn’t I be? I’m about to marry you, dummy. 

He laughs and you’ll want to kiss him, but decide to restrain yourself for the actual wedding, figuring you can shove your tongue down his throat once you’re at the altar. Okay, he says, I think I’m more nervous than you are, I just wanted to hold your hand and calm down for a minute. I love you, by the way, he says. Like, a lot. 

I didn’t notice, you say back, smiling. You’ll smile a lot around him. It’s kind of hard not to. 

You’ll want to hug him, so you do, burying your face in his chest but keeping your eyes screwed shut as he holds you tight. It’ll be your favorite spot in the world, wrapped up like that, not having to run anymore or hide who you are. Galo sees you for who you are, arrogance and vulnerability and insecurity and all, and he meets you halfway with his own flaws. Always. Always. 

Agh, okay, okay, he says, finding your cheek to kiss you quick. I’m gonna cry if I stay here any longer, so I’ll— catch you downstairs?

Duh, you say, catching his lips, you better not think of ditching me, Thymos.

Bro, I should be saying that to you! he laughs before leaving down the hall. It’s hard not to open your eyes, but you keep them closed until you’ve shut the door. 

Past Lio Fotia, I know things are hard right now. I know— I know everything is against you, and you want to scream and cry and burn everything,  _ everything  _ that gets in your way. I know how much you hurt. 

But listen to me when I tell you this: it isn’t forever. Like your rage, your fire will eventually go out. And you’ll have an entire new family right beside you when it does. You’ll have so much love and warmth and happiness and pizza to go around that you won’t know what to do with. 

It’s okay. You, leader of the Mad Burnish, Lio Fotia, will be okay. 

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got an aisle to walk down and a blue haired dumbass to make out with at the altar. 

Sincerely,

Future Lio Thymos-Fotia 

**Author's Note:**

> my twitter is @ peachzinnie !!


End file.
